1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electronic blood pressure monitor and a blood pressure measuring system, and in particular, to an electronic blood pressure monitor which can measure and record information specifically on cardiovascular risk, as well as a blood pressure measuring system.
2. Description of the Background Art
Blood pressure is a barometer for analyzing cardiac function, and risk analysis on the basis of blood pressure is effective for preventing cardiovascular system diseases, such as, for example, cerebral strokes, heart failure and myocardial infarction. For example, there is a cause and effect relationship between the surge in blood pressure that occurs between one hour and one and a half hours after waking up, which is referred to as morning surge, and cerebral stroke, and it is necessary to grasp the reciprocal relation between changes in blood pressure and health, for risk analysis of cardiovascular system diseases. As described above, blood pressure changes on the basis of individual physical activities, response to stress and reaction of the cardiovascular system to patterns of behavior, and in addition, there is a fluctuation rhythm during the course of the day, such that blood pressure drops during sleep and increases before or after waking up.
Focusing on the factors relating to the above described fluctuation in blood pressure, the applicant has proposed the blood pressure monitor that is described in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-261452. This blood pressure monitor links the measured value of blood pressure to the information on measured time and measurement conditions, and stores these, and thus, the average values of blood pressure, which are measured within particular time slots, such as a morning time slot and an evening time slot, are respectively calculated, and the risk value is calculated and displayed on the basis of these calculation results. In this blood pressure monitor, information on the measured time is taken from the time gained through a clock function that is provided in the blood pressure monitor, and the measured values are linked to the gained information on measured time and automatically sorted and stored.
In addition, focusing on the factors relating to fluctuation, which are the same as the above, that is to say, the fact that the physiological and psychological state of the patient affects the measurement of the blood pressure when the blood pressure is measured, the blood pressure monitor that is described in Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3070676 has been proposed. When the patient turns on the power ON this blood pressure monitor and operates the startup key so as to start the measurement of blood pressure, the results of the measurement of blood pressure are displayed, and then, the patient can operate a selection key for the state at the time of measurement (drunk, tinnitus, immediately after waking up, after exercising, after taking a bath), so that the measured value and the selected state are linked to each other and stored in a memory.
In the case where a measured value is linked to information on the measured time and stored in the blood pressure monitors of Japanese Patent Laying-Open 2004-261452 and Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3070676, incorrect information on the measured time is linked to the measured value when the setting of the clock in the blood pressure monitor is incorrect. In addition, problems remain, such that the risk value is calculated on the basis of the time slot when blood pressure is measured, even in the case of a person such as a shift worker whose life cycle, including waking time and sleeping time, is different from ordinary people, and therefore, the risk value deviates from the risk value that is calculated from the true measured values after waking up and before sleeping.
In addition, the conditions for measurement are inputted for every measurement, by operating condition input switches provided in the blood pressure monitor. Therefore, the condition input switches must be operated for every measurement, making switching operation troublesome. In addition, problems remain, such that the correct risk value is not calculated when incorrect conditions for measurement are linked to the measured values because of the user forgetting to operate the condition input switches.